COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO — Jackie Berning, nutrition consultant to the Denver Broncos and Cleveland Indians was named Outstanding Teacher of the Year at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Berning, assistant professor, Biology Department, is passionate about educating people about the importance of exercise and diet in creating lifestyle patterns that support not only improved athletic performance but healthy living in general.
“My overall philosophy is that making wise food choices and getting some exercise, by combining those two particular behaviors together into one lifestyle pattern, is going to add quality to your life,” Berning said. “To me, all foods fit in just not all of the time.”
Berning has worked with the Broncos for 18 years, NCAA, Division 1 CU-Boulder athletes for 15 years, the Cleveland Indians for nine years and she worked with the Colorado Rockies for three seasons.
At CU-Colorado Springs, Berning teaches a range of lower- and upper-level nutrition courses for biology and nursing students and for students in other majors looking to satisfy science core requirements. Her courses are popular and usually have a waiting list.
Berning is quick to point out that CU-Colorado Springs is unique in the four-campus system. Both in terms of the number of nutrition courses offered and with a registered dietician faculty director, the program stands out.
“Athletes think they can play 160 games while eating at every fast food corner in town or skipping a meal, and students here on campus think they can show up to take an exam when their last meal was 8 p.m. the night before,” said Berning.
“Whether they want to see an improvement in performance on a football field, a baseball diamond or in the classroom, my goal is to teach them how to make better choices.”
From her work as a consultant, Berning has a lot of stories about athletes and their sometimes unusual food choices. As a teacher, she uses many of those stories, and the humor that is wrapped around the experiences, to make points and emphasize concepts. She believes her teaching style helps students score better on tests and remember the concepts as they make their own food choices.
Working with the Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Berning is in the middle of a self-study program for the development of a nutrition emphasis curriculum that would be accredited by the American Dietetic Association. If awarded, CU-Colorado Springs would have the only accredited program in southern Colorado where students could earn a health sciences degree with a nutrition emphasis and become registered dieticians.
The University Club at CU-Colorado Springs sponsors the Outstanding Teacher Award. Berning will receive $3,000 from University Club as this year’s winner, and the club will establish a student scholarship in her name in the amount of $1,000. More information about University Club, its mission and programs may be found at http://web.uccs.edu/ur/uclub/.
CU-Colorado Springs, located on Austin Bluffs Parkway in northeast Colorado Springs, is the fastest growing university in Colorado and one of the fastest growing universities in the nation. The university offers 25 bachelor’s degrees, 17 master’s and two doctoral degrees. The campus enrolls more than 7,400 students annually.